Darkness and Light
by sparkie926
Summary: Nico only has one friend at Camp Half-Blood, and that one friend, Briar Hayes, is enough. When she finds out her parentage, both her and Nico leave camp. They haven't been separated since. This is their story.


**I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I thought it was time to write it out. I hope you enjoy it!**

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Chapter 1: Briar

I wait high in a tree by Zeus's Fist. Nico said that he would meet me after he met Bianca, but I made him promise not to bring her along. He is the only one I can trust with this secret.

I arrived at Camp Half-Blood two weeks before Nico and his sister did. Chiron knew that I was a very powerful demigod, but he didn't know my parantage. Neither did I, then. I didn't even have my own memories. I just appeared below Thalia's tree on Half-Blood Hill one day. No one knew I existed.

That shocked everyone, as I was pretty good at everything. Except for running and wrestling. I sucked at those. But with a bow, or a dagger, or a sword, I could defeat almost anyone after a little training. That was until Nico came.

I met him a few days after he arrived at camp. I mean, I'd seen him, the small dark-haired kid who loved Mythomagic, one of the youngest at camp. My age. We became friends after he defeated me during his first lesson in the arena using a sword. He was one of the only people to ever beat me. I wasn't angry, like some people would be. I wasn't surprised, actually, I knew that my luck would run out someday. We became best friends after that.

I found out something this morning, and I need to tell someone. Nico is the one I trust the most at camp. He'll keep the secret.

I see something below the tree, running away from camp. I frown. Why would someone be running away from camp? Then I see their face.

It's Nico.

I jump down from the tree, landing hard on my feet. It hurts, but I hardly realize that. I'm running after him, faster than I've ever run before. "Nico! Wait!" I called. He didn't stop. I'd have to get him to stop using brain instead of brawn.

I somehow get ahead of Nico, but I don't go in his path. I wait for him to run past, and when I do, I jump out and tackle him to the ground, rsisting the urge to take out my knife. "What were you doing?" I ask him, not sure whether to be angry or not. That's when I realize that he'd been crying. I get off of him.

"What happened?" I ask him.

Nico doesn't speak, so I ask again. "Nico, what happened?"

He stares at the ground. "Bianca."

"What..." My mind puts the pieces together. "You mean she's..."

"How did you guess?" Nico says numbly.

"I don't know. But there's something else. I can tell."

"How did you guess _that_?"

"Once again, I don't know. But tell me. You don't want to make a girl who can shoot an apple off of your head from fifty feet away mad." (And yes, that actually happened.)

Nico sighs. "Fine." He tells me about when he went to the Big House, Bianca wasn't there. Percy Jackson told him about how she died, and Nico got angry, and the skeleton warriors. "And then, I somehow made the ground open up, and swallow the skeleton warriors. I almost couldn't control it. It would have destroyed the whole camp. After I stopped it, I ran away."

I stare at him. "Nico, do you know what this means?"

"Um...yes?"

"No, you don't. Your father is Hades. He also broke the oath, just like Zeus and Poseidon. If you don't learn to control your powers..." I don't finish my sentance. Nico knows what I mean.

"I can't stay here. I'll end up destroying the camp."

"That's what I wanted to tell you, when I asked you to meet me," I say.

"Last night, I had a dream. Like, a demigod dream." Nico nods. He knows how creepy, and true, those are. "I was in the throne room of Olympus, but none of the olympians were there except for Apollo. He told me..."

I hesitate. What if he doesn't believe me.

I push those thoughts aside. Nico isn't like that. "He told me a little about my family. It's a long line of demigods. Almost every member of my family is a demigod, and, once in a century, the powers of all the demigods come together in one child. I'm that child."

Nico stared at me. "So...you're...what?"

I smile a little. "Apollo gave me a list of the blood of the gods that I do not have." I pull it out. "Hades, Tyche, Hypnos, and a few others. But there's one other thing. If I don't learn to control my powers, I'll end up destroying the camp. Remember that time the lightning bolt almost hit Connor when I was mad at him?"

"For dying your favorite hoodie pink? Yes, I'm pretty sure I remember," Nico replies.

"That would happen, only worse. And I can't put the camp in that kind of danger. I'm leaving. And maybe you should, too. No offense."

"None taken. So, when and how do we leave?"

I admit, I hadn't expected him to agree so quickly. "You're actually leaving?"

"I have to," Nico replied, with a mix of sadness and anger. "I'll end up destroying the camp if I stay here. Especially if _he's _here." I knew he was talking about Percy, and I decided not to comment.

"As for how we're leaving," I said. "There's an entrance to the labyrinth in Zeus's Fist, Apollo told me. Normally he wouldn't encourage going in there, but it's the only exit."

Nico said nothing, just started walking. I followed him, and soon we arrived. After we got through the boulders, we just stared through the darkness. Neither of us spoke, but with some kind of unspoken agreement, we walked ahead, leaving Camp Half-Blood behind.

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**That was a lot of fun to write. Please R&R!**


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